SignalTraffic Forums

abort wrote:Civil Engineering is great, IMO it is the best engineering

What makes it the best is how just about everything in life relates to Civil and how there are tons of job available because tons of industries like construction, aviation, oil, transportation, sewage, water treatment, and energy require civil engineers.

For me it is going great, I study at Virginia Tech and I only have 3 classes left so I am just about done. Engineering is hard, but its not the worst. There will always be classes which will be technically challenging and boring, but you just need to get through them into the classes that are fun.

I see you are from media, I grew up in Swarthmore, PA, which college are you going to?

Oooh Swarthmore. Nice to meet another fellow Delaware County signal/road geek!

You're absolutely right in all of what you said about civil engineering. I hope to get into transportation engineering, since I've always loved large highways and bridges ever since I could crawl.

As for colleges, I'm looking into either West Virginia University, or the University of Maine for my top two. I'm also looking at Old Dominion University, UMass Lowell, and the University of Rhode Island. But just in case I don't get into any of these schools, I can always go to a community college for the first year or so, and transfer in (it's also fairly cheaper that way IIRC). I'm actually going to be applying to these schools come this fall, so I have my fingers crossed!

wELCOME

signalkid1 wrote:

abort wrote:Civil Engineering is great, IMO it is the best engineering

What makes it the best is how just about everything in life relates to Civil and how there are tons of job available because tons of industries like construction, aviation, oil, transportation, sewage, water treatment, and energy require civil engineers.

For me it is going great, I study at Virginia Tech and I only have 3 classes left so I am just about done. Engineering is hard, but its not the worst. There will always be classes which will be technically challenging and boring, but you just need to get through them into the classes that are fun.

I see you are from media, I grew up in Swarthmore, PA, which college are you going to?

Oooh Swarthmore. Nice to meet another fellow Delaware County signal/road geek!

You're absolutely right in all of what you said about civil engineering. I hope to get into transportation engineering, since I've always loved large highways and bridges ever since I could crawl.

As for colleges, I'm looking into either West Virginia University, or the University of Maine for my top two. I'm also looking at Old Dominion University, UMass Lowell, and the University of Rhode Island. But just in case I don't get into any of these schools, I can always go to a community college for the first year or so, and transfer in (it's also fairly cheaper that way IIRC). I'm actually going to be applying to these schools come this fall, so I have my fingers crossed!

Community College isn't a bad way to go ... saves money on the background classes (Calculus, Statics & Dynamics , etc)
I have the Associates Degree in Engineering from St Louis CC. and transferred to UMR (Univ Mo at Rolla - now Mo Science & Technology )
Never finished my Bachelors , but do have a job in Highway Construction as an Engineering Tech (aka Construction Inspector) monitoring and testing roadway materials and construction (which I enjoy )

TAFeltman wrote:Community College isn't a bad way to go ... saves money on the background classes (Calculus, Statics & Dynamics , etc)

A common misconception about community colleges is that they are for people that don't intend to become something of themselves for the future, which is just baloney.

Shortly before I graduated from high school last year, I was accepted into a four-year university, but I didn't have enough money for the first year there (it's financially tough nowadays, so that is not a surprise). My best option was to begin at a community college first. It's not so bad as one may think it is (you do receive a good college education), and, along the lines of money, I spend at least 2K every semester, which is affordable and great. I'll have less money to pay off when I graduate from a four-year university in the future.

Just my two cents (and general support for community colleges).

signalkid1 wrote:As for colleges, I'm looking into either West Virginia University, or the University of Maine for my top two. I'm also looking at Old Dominion University, UMass Lowell, and the University of Rhode Island. But just in case I don't get into any of these schools, I can always go to a community college for the first year or so, and transfer in (it's also fairly cheaper that way IIRC). I'm actually going to be applying to these schools come this fall, so I have my fingers crossed!

Thats a good list of colleges! Good luck with the applications and everything. Transportation engineering is awesome and there are tons of opportunities to look forward to both while in school and out of school.

@TAFeltman:

I agree that CC is good, I know a bunch of people who went to the New River Valley Community College and transferred into Tech after a couple of semester. The CC has many partnerships with university to allow for an easy transition.

Also, thats awesome that you went to St. Louis CC and then Rolla, I know a couple of people who went there and had a great time.

There are advantage and disadvantages to both, but I am happy that I went to a 4-year university because I believed I matured a lot as an individual, student, and professional while going through the up and downs of being on my own.